Sheriff's office investigating Las Cruces man's slaying

Doña Ana County sheriff's investigators use tape to square off a crime scene on the 5900 block of Derby Avenue, west of Las Cruces. DASO officials say they responded about 1 a.m. Tuesday to reports of a man who was shot. The man died later at a Las Cruces hospital.(Photo: Anayssa Vasquez/Sun-News)Buy Photo

LAS CRUCES - A 35-year-old man was killed early Tuesday in an incident that is being investigated as a homicide, but authorities have released few details and the suspect may still be at large.

The Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release issued Tuesday afternoon that deputies were dispatched to the 5900 block of Derby Avenue around 1 a.m. Tuesday. They were responding to a report of a man suffering from a gunshot wound.

The victim, whose name has not been released, was taken to a Las Cruces-area hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after arriving, according to the sheriff’s office.

As of Tuesday evening, no arrests had been made in connection into the man’s death. “There is no information that suggests it is a random act of violence,” the news release stated.

But Kelly Jameson, the sheriff’s spokeswoman, told the Sun-News that detectives had detained a man, who was being questioned. “As of right now, I wouldn’t call him a suspect — yet,” Jameson said shortly after 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Around 2 p.m. Tuesday, a stretch of Derby Avenue was still blocked as the sheriff’s office conducted its investigation. Neighbors in the area declined to comment on the incident.

One person working in the neighborhood, however, described the general area as “not a good place to live.”

Earlier this month, three men were arrested on various drug charges, following a week-long surveillance operation by the sheriff’s office on a home in the 900 block of Weinrich Road, about a block away from the scene of Tuesday's crime.